Wanis al-Qaddafi

Prime Minister of Libya

22 November 1922 Italian Cyrenaica

1 December 1986 (aged 62) Switzerland

4 September 1968 – 31 August 1969

Wanis al-Qaddafi (Arabic: ونيس القذافي ‎) (22 November 1922 – 1 December 1986) was a Libyan politician. He held many positions in the era of the Kingdom of Libya and was the tenth Prime Minister of Libya from 4 September 1968 to 31 August 1969, when his government was overthrown by Muammar Gaddafi (no relation). Biography Qaddafi was born in Benghazi, Italian Cyrenaica, in 1922, into the distinguished House of Shennib. During the Italian colonial period, an Italian lawyer trained him for a career in law. According to some accounts, during the Second World War he fled with his family to Sudan, only returning to his country after it was occupied by the British. The young Qaddafi was taken up by the Allied Forces overseeing the administration of Benghazi and was the first Libyan to be recruited by the British for the political administration of Cyrenaica. Following the independence of Libya in 1951, he became a provincial minister in Cyrenaica, first of health, later of justice and transportation, and chaired Cyrenaica's Executive Council. A friend of Idris of Libya, the post-war national leader, in 1962–1963 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, then Interior Minister, and finally in September 1968 became the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Libya, replacing Abdul Hamid al-Bakkoush, whose reforms had alienated some conservative elements. On 17 November 1968, Qaddafi opened the fifth session of the Libyan National Assembly in Bayda and gave the annual prime minister's speech from the throne, emphasizing the themes of "stability, prosperity, and progress". Qaddafi was ousted from office by a coup d'état against King Idris on 1 September 1969, and was sentenced by the Libyan People's Court to two years in prison. He returned to private life after his release and died of a heart attack in December 1986, aged 64.